Kyrie Irving dons tactile audio wearable before Game 7
Read about the latest sports tech news, innovations, ideas and products that impact players, fans and the sports industry overall at SportTechie.com.
The Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers are two of the most technologically savvy organizations in the league. Led by prominent owners with technology backgrounds, both franchises have demonstrated a propensity for implementing tech throughout their operations.
Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers, and Peter Guber, the owner of the Golden State Warriors, have led a tech-fueled charge for their teams and this mindset seems to be shared by the players.
On the Warriors, Steph Curry has been involved with tech in a number of ways. He has helped launch his own social media platform for sports, backed a coaching startup called CoachUp, and even started using brain-zapping headphones developed by Halo Neuroscience to train.
• Get the latest sports tech news in your inbox!
Klay Thompson has also backed ShotTracker and Andre Iguodala has invested in multiple Silicon Valley companies.
With the Cavaliers, LeBron James has built his brand and body through digital tech and the latest in training technology. And Matthew Dellavedova has been using a wearable called Whoop (pronounced “hoop”) to track his on-court stats more precisely.
Now, another player in this year’s NBA Finals seems to have entered the tech mix. Kyrie Irving was spotted wearing a Subpac, which is a patent-pending tactile audio device that transfers low frequencies directly to the wearer’s body and provides the ability to feel music.
After Saturday’s practice, Irving was asked about the unique garment and said, “It’s a Subpac, you’ll be hearing about it soon.”
[youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsCMNx6nKok]
We will certainly be paying close to attention to see if more athletes adopt this unique device. Perhaps Kyrie was using it to play his favorite music while working out. Or perhaps he was using it to try and simulate the raucous atmosphere in Oracle Arena.